Illustrations Changing Your Preconceived Notions about Beauty Standards

CG. Could you please tell me about your educational qualifications?

Jasjyot. I studied Animation Film Design at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad and then did an MFA in Illustration Practice at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.

CG. How and when did you come up with the idea of becoming an artist and fashion illustrator?

Jasjyot. I've been drawing ever since I was a kid, I can't seem to recall a time I wasn't. At the age of seven, I wanted to become a '3D Cartoon Animator' even though I had little idea about what it actually entailed.

Everyone in my family humoured my interest in art, but my parents supported me through every step. They enrolled me in summer classes at the National Gallery of Modern Art, where I would roam in the exhibition halls for hours! It was there that I saw paintings of Amrita Sher-Gil and the minimal graphic work of Jamini Roy that remain my art-loves and influences even today. I was always interested in fashion and accessorising my characters (usually women), which adorned the back of all my notebooks. When my mum used to flip through them, she saw tonnes of illustrations of women in bikinis. She'd say, 'wow they have amazing legs!' At that time I knew I wanted to incorporate my interest in fashion into my work as an illustrator/ artist.